in THE CHURCH OF SS. SERGIUS AND BACCHUS 67
church of S. Peter1 as he styles it, but which Byzantine writers2 who record the scene name S. Sergius.
Justinian was not the man to stand the affront. He ordered the praetor of the city to arrest the Pope and conduct him to prison. But when that officer appeared5 Vigilius grasped the pillars of the altar and refused to surrender. Thereupon the praetor ordered his men to drag the Pope out by main force. Seizing Vigilius by his feet, holding him by his beard and the hair of his head5 the men pulled with all their might3 but they had to deal with a powerful man, and he clung fast to the altar with an iron grip. In this tug-of-war the altar at length came crashing to the ground,, the Pope's strong hands still holding it tight. At this point, however, the indignation and sympathy of the spectators could not be restrained ; the assailants of the prostrate prelate were put to flight, and he was left master of the situation. Next day a deputation^ including Belisarius and Justin, the heir-apparent, waited upon Vigilius, and in the emperor's name assured him that resistance to the imperial will was useless, while compliance with it would save him from further ill-treatment Yielding to the counsels of prudence, the Pope returned to the palace of Placidia,8 the residence assigned to him during his stay in the capital.
Probably at this time arose the custom of placing the churches of SS. Peter and Paul, and SS. Sergius and Bacchus at the service of the Latin clergy in Constantinople, especially when a representative of the Pope, or the Pope himself, visited the city. The fact that the church was dedicated to apostles closely associated with Rome and held in highest honour there, would make it a sanctuary peculiarly
1 Baronius, x. p. 43 *ex domo JPlacidiana, ubi degebat, confugit ad ibi proxime junctam ecclesiam S, Petri *; cf. Vigilius* letter, Ep. vii. t. i. Ep, Rom. pant.
2 Theoph. p. 34.9 ; Malalas, jx 485. ...^
3 Notitia. Two palaces bearing similar names stood In the First Region of the city, the Palatlum Pladdtanum and the Domtis Platidiae Augustae. Vigilius refers to the palace in his circular letter, giving an account of his treatment at Constantinople. There also the legates of Pope Agatho were lodged in 680, on the occasion of the First Council in Trullo, and there likewise Pope Constantine in 710, when he came to the East at the command of Justinian II., took up his abode.—Anastasius Bibliothecarius, pp. 54, 65,